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The average energy consumption of families served by the Social Electric Energy Tariff (TSEE) reached 150 kWh/month in the first half of this year, according to Rede Energia e Comunidades, which states that the current discount by consumption band has become obsolete, as it corresponds to approximately R$30 per month. 

That's why the campaign “People's Energy", whose purpose is to push for a review of the TSEE, which will benefit quilombola and indigenous communities, but also low-income families throughout the country. The Energy and Communities Network Campaign, a group formed by social institutions, was launched this month and also calls for access to the benefit to be less bureaucratic, automatically including families that are part of CadÚnico and who, often, are not aware of this right.

Watch the campaign video:

The program provides for a tiered table, which reduces the discount percentage as consumption increases, being only 10% for homes with monthly consumption between 101 kWh and 200 kWh. In 2023, average consumption would already reach 140 kWh/month.

“Considering this picture of average family consumption, it is clear that the TSEE, created to alleviate the burden of the electricity bill for the most vulnerable families, has not been fulfilling its role adequately for a long time now,” states the campaign about the fee, which is a benefit granted by the government to families classified as low-income.

Data from the National Electric Energy Agency indicate that 7,7 million families meet the requirements to receive the benefit, but for various reasons, they do not receive the tariff reduction.

“In addition, the calculation of the first discount band of the tariff needs to be updated: an increase of at least 200 kWh is necessary to alleviate the context of energy poverty in which millions of people live in Brazil”, says an excerpt from the campaign.

According to Ciro Campos, from the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), the social tariff also contributes less than it could to the economic development of communities in the Amazon and other regions of the country. 

“Businesses and productive projects normally consume electricity above this limit, so the discount is diluted and the final price is similar to the full tariff charged in the city. Therefore, some adjustments need to be made to this policy so that it helps develop community businesses,” he explained.

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Indigenous peoples, quilombolas and extractivists in the Amazon demand access to electricity

How does the discount work?

The discount is made in a staggered manner, according to the monthly consumption of the residence. In the case of indigenous and quilombola families are given a 100% discount when consumption does not exceed 50 kWh; 40% if consumption is between 51 kWh and 100 kWh e 10% if the registration is between 101 kWh and 220 kWh.

FOR families that are not indigenous or quilombolas, the biggest discount is 65% if consumption is up to 30 kWh e the last two discount and consumption bands are the same for all types of family.

In practice, the average consumption of families covered by the benefit was 130 kWh between 2020 and 2022, according to a technical note from the Pólis Institute. While in the period from 2017 to 2019, the average was 120 kWh. And, as already mentioned, it reached 150 kWh/month in the first half of this year.

For 49% of those interviewed, the electricity bill is the item that has the biggest impact on their household budget. In the Amazon, the situation is even more worrying: according to a survey by Inteligência em Pesquisa e Consultoria Estratégica (IPEC) conducted for the Pólis Institute, two out of every three people interviewed in the region — responsible for a quarter of the energy produced in Brazil, according to the campaign — identified the electricity bill as the item that has the biggest impact on their household budget.